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Journal of Medical Education

Abstract

Purpose: An increasing number of medical schools are implementing longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs), but less is known about LICs in tertiary teaching hospitals. This study compares the learning experiences of LIC and traditional block rotation (TBR) students and explores the principle of educational continuity at a metropolitan tertiary teaching hospital in Taiwan. Methods: This mixed-methods study included semi-structured interviews and surveys of fifth-year medical students, including 12 LIC students, who took their clinical clerkships at Tri-Service General Hospital in the academic year 2015/16. A research assistant interviewed LIC and TBR students to explore their learning experiences. The questionnaire asked students about their sense of self-efficacy in practice, experiences of patient follow-up, and clinical supervision. The authors performed qualitative thematic analysis on interview data and analyzed the surveys quantitatively comparing the two clerkship models. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed three main themes: ＂views on the path＂, ＂support from preceptors＂, and ＂being with patients.＂ In these domains, compared to the TBRs, the LIC design appears to have offered different learning experiences to the 5th-year medical students. In the questionnaire data, the LIC students perceived higher self-efficacy on seeing how social context affects patients and their problems and reported having more opportunities to interact longitudinally with patients and preceptors. Conclusions: From the students' perspectives, LIC students had important and different opportunities to interact with their preceptors and patients compared to their TBR peers. From the view of curriculum design, this inpatient-predominant LIC program adhered to the principle of educational continuity.

First Page

139

Last Page

154

DOI

10.6145/jme.202109_25(3).0001

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